


Deck the Lab (With Boughs of Theory)

by CaveCarson (TinySparks)



Category: Avengers (Comics), Iron Man (Comic), Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas, Gen, Genius Tony Stark, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Lonely Tony Stark, Parent-Child Relationship, Science Cures Everything, Student Tony Stark, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 10:11:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5535995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinySparks/pseuds/CaveCarson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A 20 year old Tony Stark is enrolled at MIT pursuing his ten million Masters and PhD programs in the year prior to the crash that killed Howard & Maria. This first offering follows Tony's Christmas Day...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deck the Lab (With Boughs of Theory)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thescarletwoman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thescarletwoman/gifts).



On Christmas Day, Tony wakes around eleven, dehydrated and achy. He never made it off the couch last night - or maybe he did, because there's two more bottles on the carpet than he started out with. After sloping to the bathroom, after showering, and changing, chugging water and eating a bowl of Cheerios with warm, unrefrigerated milk from a carton, he's just... going to sleep in his bed, just for a little while ... 

By early afternoon, he's up again, and ready to call his parents. He Skypes Maria, and she looks healthy and beautiful, as she always does. He wishes her a 'Happy Christmas', and she's _so_ glad he called, and it's such a shame he didn't join them, Martinique is so delicious at this time of year, and did he get the card they sent? Which of course he didn't, because he has his mail sent to the university and he hasn't checked his box since the beginning of the semester, but he says that he did anyway, and thanks. Maria seems happy, in that dignified, reserved way of hers; Howard bought her a beautiful ring - look, isn't it fabulous? Of course it is, she chose it herself. Is Howard there? Can Tony speak to him? And Maria's apologizing, he had to step out, it's a working vacation - aren't they all? - but he sends his love, of course. Though Tony knows his Mom is just saying that, because she's kind like that, she tries, and he's lucky, really, and she loves him so much, she's always saying the words.

And darling, darling... How is he doing with his studies, is he making his deadlines? And has he met anyone, anyone he might want to bring home, some day? And how is James, is he still doing things with aeroplanes (aeronautical engineering), is he still thinking about the Airforce? And oh, before she forgets, the Potts send their love, and Maria will _never_ understand why he and Virginia aren't engaged, they're both in their twenties now, and nobody is getting any younger - except perhaps Maria! Hahaha! Wonderful things they can do at the spa-clinic now, simply wonderful... And Tony's had enough, now, this was enough, he doesn't want to talk about himself, doesn't want to answer questions, that's not why he called. He just wanted to speak to his parents on Christmas Day, just for a while, and anyway, he doesn't have the right answers... And Howard will call him, but Tony knows he won't, and that's okay, it's really, really okay. Bye, Mom. Love you, Mom. Wow, that was exhausting.

Great time to go to the lab, right? 

Good thing about post-grad, the labs, the libraries, the shared working spaces are never closed, even at Christmas. You just use your swipe card and you're in, there's no need for security guards sitting around all night long watching porn. Nice, quiet walk over to the Department of Physics. He's also got a space in the School of Engineering, but in Physics the chairs are more comfortable, and the coffee machine isn't out of order, on the backburner 'til after the holiday period. Maybe he'll go over and sort it out himself, later. Tony sits in his chair, kicks, and spins. There's a surprise waiting for him at his desk, a can of iced coffee with a Post-it Note on top, 'Merry Xmas Tony! Kara xx'. That's nice. He smiles. There's a couple of envelopes, actually, cards from other candidates. He sticks them in his drawer, boots up his computer, pops the tab on his cold triple-mocha-frothy coffee. He looks down at his reflection, warped and distorted by the can. Merry Christmas, asshole. Sits in his chair, kicks, and spins. Sets some tunes playing, he brought his own speakers in a while back, bigass sons of bitches, just for days like these. Brings up some schematics, runs some numbers, shoots off an email to his physics supervisor, Hi Bruce, I'm not getting the results I predicted, blablabla, but I don't think the error's on my end, the original theory doesn't allow for these propositions x and y and z, so isn't that an inadequacy, really? If you just look at these figures, won't you agree? Won't you? Because I'm definitely not wrong, except for when I am. Send. Sent. Done. 

So! Hey! Let's do biophys! This is something, something interesting, so much to classify, to characterize, but there's also so much to _build_ , if only he can understand how, and he will. He will, all of it. Why not? Why the hell not, it's something, something. Only so much longer he can keep this eternal student thing going; The family business beckons, the horror, oh god, the horror... And he's still so new to this faculty, just fourth months, and there's so much to _know_ , you could never sleep again, there's just so much unknown, unquantified, unwrangled that you wouldn't want to. And that's the beauty of ignorance, isn't it? Keeps you busy. And then you'll never sleep again, not alone, not unless you want to, unless you're all chill and comfortable with yourself, and you really, really want to. And just look at all of this space, and no-one using it. What a waste. All of this happening on this little screen, and nothing out here, no moving around. Problems, they aren't static, they're everything but, you move it all around, all of the permutations available, and then some that aren't, if you really want to solve things. Let's switch it up, let's make a move! Maybe let's dance a little, it's not like anyone's watching. Let's pretend we wouldn't care if they were, huh? Let's deck the halls, let's do this, yissss. Nothing that a couple hundred sheets of blank copier paper and a Sharpie can't fix, reams of theory and sketches and here we go, finally: it's a party. It's a party and you're the guest of honor, Tony, deck the lab with boughs of theory, and-- 

Shit, he's found it. He's done it! That's it, that's the answer! And Tony's scribbling and laughing, and this is everything, this is everything that Tony wants to be defined by. Everything, everything, and nothing else. This bit of happiness, right here, in this abandoned campus building. Just fucking _yes_. And afterward, he'll go and fix that coffee machine, and once he's done, without him even getting a hand on the change in his pocket it'll spit out a brilliant steaming cup, triple espresso, four sugars... He can almost hear the distant angels sing.

It's a goddamn _Christmas miracle._


End file.
